20 Feb 2012

I never
liked the term ‘The Arab Spring’. I found it too passive a description with its
connotation of a natural phenomenon that didn’t fully capture the sense of
defiance that characterised the Arab Uprisings of 2011. But in hindsight there
was perhaps something prescient about the ‘Arab Spring’ reflecting the lack of
a sense of control over events that now characterises the frustration and
disappointment felt by secularist Arab supporters of the uprisings. Not for the
first time in their history, Arab leftists and liberals have revealed the same
kind of incompetence and lack of political clarity that have allowed other
parties, such as the Baath, to outmanoeuvre them in the past. This time round
they seem to have reconciled themselves to watching from the sidelines and bemoaning
the ignorance of the Arab masses as the Islamists appear to be gaining the
upper hand. This would be a premature declaration of defeat.